By Mike Phillips
Contributing sportswriter
Who were those guys in the white uniforms with the red numbers and trim who came out in the fourth quarter in a spread offense in Saturday night’s Kaysinger Conference Tournament championship game at State Fair Community College?
For those of you in disbelief, those were the Sacred Heart Gremlins. Leading the Tipton Cardinals 53-43 with 6:30 left in the game, Gremlin head coach Steve Goodwin called for his team to spread the floor and run the clock. The Gremlins successfully took more than two minutes off the clock before finding Clint Spangler all by himself under the bucket. Spangler got hammered as he went up for the shot but made both free throws to give the Gremlins a 55-43 lead with under five minutes to play.
The spread seemed to take the Cardinals’ legs as the Gremlins opened up a 65-48 lead and went on to win their fourth consecutive Kaysinger Conference Tournament title, sponsored by W-K Chevrolet, 72-59.
On the next possession after Spangler hit the two charity tosses, Sacred Heart’s Jared Dey sliced through the lane, scored a layup and was fouled. Dey made the free throw to complete the three-point play and the Gremlins were in command 58-43.
The three-point play made up a part of Dey’s game-high 25 points as the Gremlins improved to 21-1 on the season and notched their second win of the season over the Cardinals. Sacred Heart has won the Kaysinger Tournament in 2009, 2010, 2011 and now 2012.
Tipton, 15-6, took advantage of the fact that the Gremlins didn’t start out in a press. Wade Wood scored the first five Cardinal points on a trey from the right corner and a baseline jumper, sandwiched around Sacred Heart’s first of three treys by Stefan Cox, as the Cardinals took a 5-3 lead. Tipton was enjoying running the ball up and down the floor with the Gremlins.
Tipton made three straight shots midway through the quarter, a putback by Tim Brink and two layups by Dolan Cooper to take a 12-8 lead. Tipton led 13-12 after the first quarter.
Cox, who finished the night with 21 points, hit his second trey to start the second quarter and put the Gremlins back on top 15-13.
The two teams were tied three times and the lead changed hands four times until late in the quarter when Sacred Heart’s Jerrion Jackson finally found the range for a trey from the top of the key and Caleb Morrison scored off an offensive rebound to give Sacred Heart a 33-27 halftime lead.
Sacred Heart continued to show different defenses in the second half, everything from a trap, to a full-court press, to a half-court press to a zone.
Tipton made a run early in the third quarter. Wood converted a three-point play and Ethan Koechner scored to get the Cardinals within 33-32.
Dey made one of two free throws but Brink answered with a bucket to tie it 34-34.
The Gremlins were wreaking havoc on the Cardinals with their press, finishing the third quarter on a 14-7 run. Dey had eight of those with five from the free throw line and Cox swished his third trey as Sacred Heart took a 48-41 lead to the fourth.
Two free throws by Jackson with four minutes left in the game gave Sacred Heart its biggest lead at 65-48 as Goodwin slowly began to filter his reserves in but kept the press on until the final minute before Goodwin unloaded his bench.
Tipton got the lead down to 12 but got no closer.
Dey led the Gremlins with 25 points with one trey and Cox added 21 with three triples. Both scored 11 points in the first half.
Koechner led Tipton with 21 Wood added 16 and Chaz Raymond netted 11.
In other games on boys’ championship night, Lincoln beat Northwest 51-35 in the consolation game and Cole Camp blitzed Green Ridge 63-46.
Photos by Randy Kirby, Sedalia News Journal.
